Capacity Building through Capital Investment Plan Development in Four Bangladeshi Cities

An international financing institution, the World Bank provides loans to developing countries for capital programs. In Bangladesh, the World Bank is in the beginning stages of developing Capital Investment Plan (CIP) templates for all participating cities. Based on principles of good public management, the CIP is intended to provide local governments with a method for establishing and maintaining a regular process of planning and funding capital investments. This would ensure that financial resources are used efficiently while also serving as a capacity building tool. Building on visioning workshops which identified priority infrastructure projects, the Capstone team further developed formal CIPs for four Bangladeshi municipalities: Comilla, Feni, Khulna, and Narayanganj. The collaborative development of the CIPs enabled the cities to agree upon economic development and public service delivery through a consensus building process; establish investment priorities, project costs, and timelines over the next five years; and identify and assess financing and investment strategies.